After Snapchat videos were posted in which students tossed out racial slurs, Township High School District 113 Superintendent Christopher Dignam said he wants to eliminate the “n” word and all hate speech from use at Highland Park and Deerfield high schools.

Dignam said he realizes there may be a mixed message to some teens.

“We are going to hear how students are confused about (use of the ‘n’ word) ... because it is used 24/7 in the entertainment world and it’s something they have grown up being accustomed to,” Dignam acknowledged during a school board meeting this month.

But he said that’s no reason not to attack the problem and try to solve it.

“This use of the word by our students I find particularly offensive on many levels, for many reasons,” Dignam said. “It seems particularly prevalent among young, white students. As a white male, I do not get to own this word. There should be no intellectual debate on whether we get to use this word if we are a white person.”

In late December, District 113 administrators became aware of student-created videos originally posted on social media site Snapchat that included the use of racial slurs, as well as the names of Highland Park High School students. Administrators learned of the videos on Dec. 27, during winter break. Variations of the videos circulated through other social media channels, according to the district.

In the videos, students recorded themselves in conversation using racial slurs and then shared the video with other students, according to Communications Director Christine Gonzales.

Our community has not been immune to the growing number of reports of hate speech and racially motivated incidents that have been occurring nationwide.— Highland Park High School officials

The district has declined to comment on whether the students were disciplined, or estimate how many students were involved.

“We are not able to tell how many students viewed the video as it was shared through different social media platforms and through both public and private accounts,” Gonzales said.

Highland Park High School students, parents and staff were notified Dec. 28 that the school had contacted the students and their parents and remains committed to ensuring that every individual feels safe and welcome.

“Our community has not been immune to the growing number of reports of hate speech and racially motivated incidents that have been occurring nationwide,” read the communication from Principal Elizabeth Robertson, Assistant Principal Steve Tucker and Equity Coordinator Bridget Fahrner.

Several District 113 officials said the effort to target hate speech was not solely prompted by the Snapchat videos.

Gonzales said the district already had been training teachers on techniques for addressing hate speech.

“We hear it in the hallways, it happens in the classroom,” she said. “This video, having spread so quickly online, really shook up our students, staff and community.”

At Highland Park High School, students are scheduled to attend grade-level assemblies next week on hate speech and diversity issues. The school and district has been working with Mosaic Experience, a diversity consulting and training organization. The assemblies were planned before the videos surfaced.

I find fewer things more reprehensible than the hate speech that occurs regularly...— Township High School District 113 Superintendent Christopher Dignam

Deerfield High School is in the process of developing a similar program.

“We want to make sure our students understand not only how to speak appropriately, but also how to respond when others use inappropriate language,” Gonzales said.

During a Jan. 8 school board meeting, Dignam spoke out against use of the “n” word and hate speech, but did not mention the recent videos.

“I find fewer things more reprehensible than the hate speech that occurs regularly ... and the ways that hate speech has been used to reassert the empowerment of one group by disenfranchising another,” Dignam said.

“This has been particularly brutal through social media,” he said, noting hate speech found on social media can be racial, homophobic, religious or misogynist or based on nationalism or class bias.

“All are unacceptable and have no place in our schools,” Dignam said.

The superintendent said he also wants to re-frame the district’s diversity and equity work to eliminate reference to “tolerance.”

“When I hear we are practicing ‘tolerance,’ that means I am going to ‘put up’ with you,” he added. “I think we need to move away from that, if that is the lens we have been using.”

He acknowledged there are going to be instances when hate speech occurs, and the district may need to reteach students.

“We are working with young people who sometimes make really bad decisions and do not understand the long-term consequences of their actions and words, especially,” he added, “when it is memorialized in social media.”